【正文】 as the ideas fueled her text. Without one, the other would stumble. Miyoko39。s data clearly showed that she was not able to effectively use her Japanese posing processes for her English essay. Katsue was confronted with too many language problems that pulled her attention away from her Japanese posing processes, which would have allowed her to focus on her essay development. Furthermore, Katsue did not bypass her English deficiencies by relying on Japanese to drive her posing processes. Because the essay had to ultimately be in English, Katsue choose to mix English into every part of her posing processes. This strategy for using English broke up Katsue39。s Japanese protocol. Nevertheless, these patterns demonstrate a consistent and recursive posing process while Katsue was drafting her Japanese essay and established rereading as a key strategy within that posing process. In contrast, the patterns and cycles of posing while drafting her English essay were much more broken and fragmented than those of her Japanese essay. Katsue39。 Rinnert, 1994). These studies have found that the lower L2 proficiency writers benefited from posing in the L1 and then translating into the L2, a result that highlights the importance of using L1 posing strategies for lower L2 proficiency writers. Jones and Tetroe (1987) did a study on the effect of L1 use during L2 writing. They found that the lower L2 proficiency writers who did not use their L1 were less effective in their planning. The writers who did use their L1 produced more details during the planning stage of L2 writing. Furthermore, the L1 facilitated more abstract thought during planning.Research QuestionAlthough we have some understanding of how lower proficiency writers cope with the demands of writing in an L2, our picture is still inplete. One area in which we still have little understanding is the degree to which L2 writers transfer their L1 posing process and strategies to their L2 writing. While it is given that L2 writing poses challenges that are unique from L1 writing and thus require unique strategies to deal with, it is reasonable to assume that parts of the posing process are similar or even the same in the L1 and the L2. The purpose of this study is to investigate the degree to which lower L2 proficiency writers transfer their posing processes and strategies from L1 writing to L2 writing. The question that this research sought to answer is: What L1 posing processes and strategies do lower L2 proficiency writers transfer to L2 writing? MethodSubjectsThree native Japanesespeaking subjects were selected from an intensive English program in the . to participate in this research. They were chosen for their beginning English proficiency, their wider experience with writing in Japanese, and their limited experience with writing in English. All three subjects were female and their ages ranged from 26 to 28 years old. All three subjects were high school graduates, and two of the three subjects had also graduated from 2year colleges. [2]ProcedureSix thinkaloud protocols were collected while the subjects posed essays in Japanese and then in English. Each subject individually participated in two posing sessions in which the subject wrote an essay while thinking aloud. In the first session subjects wrote a Japanese essay and in the second session they wrote an English essay. The sessions were video and audio taped for subsequent transcription, analysis, and parison. Each session followed a similar pattern. First the researcher explained the purpose of thinkaloud protocols and gave a brief demonstration of the process by posing the first paragraph of an essay while thinking aloud. The subject then practiced the protocol method while the researcher checked for quality and subject understanding of the process. Subjects were then given an essay topic (see Table 1). Both essay topics came from the test bank of TOEFL essay topics. Japanese Essay TopicEnglish Essay TopicWhen people need to plain about a product or poor service, some prefer to plain in writing and others prefer to plain in person. Which way do you prefer? Use specific reasons and examples to support your answer. When people move to another country, some of them decide to follow the customs of the new country. Others prefer to keep their own customs. Which one do you prefer? Support your answer with specific details.Table 1—Essay TopicsThe topic for the Japanese essay was written in Japanese and the topic for the English essay was written in both Japanese and English. The subject began the protocol by reading the topic aloud. The subject was allowed to take as much time as they needed to pose their essay and they signaled the researcher when they finished posing. ResultsTwo protocols for each of the three subjects were collected, transcribed and then reviewed and analyzed for posing processes and strategies. The descriptions below highlight the main features of each subject39。 Uzawa amp。 Scardimalia,1987). L1 Use to Drive L2 WritingAlthough many L2 writers use their L1 in some way while writing in the L2, the amount of L1 used during L2 writing is not the same for all L2 writers. In general, proficient L2 learners do not depend heavily on the L1 to drive the writing process because they have a sufficient level of L2 automaticity and knowledge to think and plan in the L2 (Jones amp。 Scardimalia,1987). L1 Use to Drive L2 WritingWriting in a second language (L2) is a challenging and plex process. While the first language (L1) writing process includes producing content, drafting ideas, revising writing, choosing appropriate vocabulary, and editing text, writing in an L2 involves all of these elements jumbled with second language processing issues. In the case of lower L2 proficiency writers, these L2 issues can overwhelm the writing process, even to the point of a plete breakdown of the process (Bereiter amp。 Raimes, 1985。 Kobayashi amp。 however,